


The Journey to Recovery

by OTTSTF



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 16:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19479583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: Picking up from the day after the Byers family move out of Hawkins, this story will aim to show the lives of El and Mike trying to deal with their now long-distance relationship.





	1. The Day After

**Author's Note:**

> Season three killed me.  
> It freaking killed me.
> 
> [rant]
> 
> I'm sorry, but I high-key hate Joyce for what she's done.  
> Yes, she took El in. I love her. She's an amazing mother and she'd do anything for her kids. No doubt of that _at all_.  
> But she's got to see things from her children's point of view, too. What are they going to do? They aren't going to even _want_ to find new friends.
> 
> _Then_ , to make things worse, put in everything from El's perspective. She just lost her father. Now, three months later, Joyce is separating her from her friends and boyfriend?
> 
> I'm sorry. I know El went willingly, and that is obvious, but I don't see this going well at all. I can just imagine El feeling so lonely out there, where-ever they've decided to go. No friends, nowhere to go and nothing to do. How could this move possibly go well for them?
> 
> [/rant]
> 
> This first chapter. It feels trash. But that's just because _I_ feel trash.  
> I need emotional support and this is one of my ways to get it.

“El? Are you there?”

  


  


“Hello Mike. I’m here.”

He breathes a sigh of relief, having been worried that she might miss his attempt to call her. Hiking up this mountain is no easy feat – he really wishes he could sort something out back home to let him talk from there.

“H-hi El.” he responds, hoping she didn’t notice-

“Mike? Are you okay?”

\- the wobble in his voice…  
He sighs, knowing that there’s no point lying to El. He doesn’t want to ever again; especially after the _grandma_ incident.

“No…” he admits, unable to contain the emotions that burn inside him.  
“No, I’m not.”

He hoped, really had hoped, that he’d be able to contain himself. But who was he kidding?  He knows he’s hopeless when it comes to El. Especially  _now._

“I… miss you. I miss you so much and it’s only been a day and…”

“I know, Mike.” El responds, Mike hearing a wobble in her voice too which makes the situation all the more painful.  
“I… hate it. I miss being able to see you every day, and spend all day together.”

“Yeah, me too.” Mike agrees. “I miss annoying our friends, and I miss annoying Hopper, and…”  
And then that hits Mike hard too.  
“Hopper…”

H e hears El shakily sigh from the other end.  
“I miss him too.”

“So do I.” Mike says. “I miss annoying him with our… constant kissing…”

This manages to make El laugh slightly, to Mike’s relief.

“I miss being able to constantly kiss you.” El admits upfront, never having been the kind of person to shy away from saying something of the kind.

“I… yeah.” Mike admits too. “I do too. I… just miss you so much.”

“I just want to see you… I want to be with you again.” El tells him.

“I wish I could just move in with you…” Mike ends up admitting, without realising.

“But… What about your friends?” She asks with genuine concern.

“I’d much rather be with you permanently and have to visit them than the other way around.” Mike says without question.  
“But… I know Mrs. Byers couldn’t support me being there as well… and I can’t leave school…”

“Jonathan is working now too.” El informs Mike. “You’re only one extra person, I know we could manage…”

El reflects on the school point for a moment… worried that it could be their dead end.  
“Surely… Mrs. Byers could find you a school here?”

Mike sighs, wishing he could share El’s enthusiasm.  
“Even then, El, I don’t think my mom would let me move out of home… not until I’m at least eighteen anyway.”

El’s turn to sigh, wishing that she and her new family could just go back to living in Hawkins.  
“I wish Joyce didn’t have to move us so far out…”

“I wish so too, El.”  
Mike sighs deeply, sorrowfully, trying to keep himself composed.

“How is everybody else?” El asks, also trying hard to keep herself together, not wanting to tumble them both into a deep pit of more despair.  
“I miss them too… I miss Max.”

“Max misses you too.” Mike tells her. “Everybody does. But nobody misses you more than I do.”

“I know…” El manages a small laugh at Mike’s words, but it doesn’t last.

“I miss you so much.” she says again.

“I… miss you too, El.” Mike responds.  
“But hey…” he starts with a sniffle, “… we survived three-hundred and fifty-three days without being able to speak at all, right?”

“I guess…”

“So I’m sure we can do this. Besides, it’ll fly by. Before we know it, I’ll be there.”

El sighs, nodding her head again. “I hope so.”

“I’m sure it will.”

  


A silence falls between them – one that feels awkward unlike what they’ve experienced before.

“God, it’s much harder thinking of things to talk about over the radio…” Mike states.

“Yes…” El agrees. “It is.”

“Well… what have you done today? Did you get everything unpacked?” Mike asks, hoping to stir a conversation.

“We did.” El answers simply.

“That’s… good.” Mike says, but he can’t help sighing.

“I’m sorry…” El apologizes. 

“What’re you apologising for?” Mike questions.

“It’s so… hard. Talking, like this. I… don’t know what to say.” she admits.

“I know…” Mike agrees. “I don’t either. You don’t need to be sorry. It’s a lot harder than in person…”

“I want to see you again. I can’t be this far away from you…”

“We will see each-other soon, El, I promise.”

“Not soon enough…”

M ike, feeling the exact same way, doesn’t know what to say. She’s right. It’s hard.  _Very_ hard.   
“I’ll try to get there sooner, okay? Maybe a weekend?”

El can’t help but let a little excitement build inside her.  
“This weekend?”

“I’ll try!” Mike promises. “I’ll try my best!”

“Let me know as soon as you can, Mike.” El asks.

“I will!” Mike exclaims. “I’ll talk to my mom when I get home. I’ll beg her if I have to. I promise!”

“I’ll beg Joyce too. I promise.”

“Okay, well…” Mike trails off, knowing he should head back soon if he’s to get any good talk from his mother.  
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay El?”

“Same time?”

“Yeah, the same time. I promise.”

“Okay…” El supposes that having at least _that_ to look forward to is better than nothing.  
“Good night, Mike.”

“Goodnight, El.” he bids, smiling as he remembers her saying the next words to him for the first time yesterday.  
“I love you.”

The sigh of happiness from her side of the radio makes Mike so happy to hear.  
“I love you too, Mike.  Speak to you tomorrow.”

“Speak to you tomorrow, El.”

  


And with that, their radios go silent. Mike sits there for a moment, reflecting on how things used to be, before all hell broke loose again. Biking to the cabin every day, getting the same old ‘three-inch-rule’ from Hopper blasted into his ear every day, getting to see El every day, and spend all day with her, talking, reading, laughing, singing, and of course, kissing.

And now, this is them. Limited to radio or phone calls, bound by their parents’ willingness to take them either direction.

It’s painful. It genuinely is. But they’ll make it. They did last time. They will this time.


	2. The Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe this whole long-distance thing won't need to be so painful after all.

The ringing of the basement telephone wakes Mike from his sleep – he’d fallen asleep over the night while reading his old pile of comics, trying to find something – _anything_ – to help take his mind off the numbness of being separated from El.

He rushes to his feet,  running towards the wall – he doesn’t know why, but he has an urgent feeling to answer this call.

“Hello?” he calls once he does.

“Get a pen and paper.” he hears a girls voice. Not just any girl’s voice – the voice of his dreams.

“ _El?”_ he questions his ears, not believing them at all.

“Yes! Joyce got the phone line set up!” she explains.  
“So go get a pen and paper so you can write our number down!”

“That’s amazing!” Mike gets very excited suddenly, now having the ability to talk to El without leaving the house, as long as they don’t use too much money.  
“I’ll go get them! I’ll be back in a second!”

“Okay!”

H e darts quickly from the phone over to a table stand,  where a pen and notebook had always been left.  Running back to the phone, he fumbles to get it between his ear and shoulder, holding it in place while he holds the pen and notebook in his hands.

“Alright, I’m ready!”

Mike writes the new telephone number down as El reads it to him, the excitement making his writing a lot messier than usual.

“That way, you don’t need to go up that mountain every time we want to talk!” El excitedly describes.

“I know! Although the price might be something to worry about; phone calls aren’t free. But we can use the phone when it’s raining or to plan when we want to talk through the radio.”

“That’s a good idea. Call to plan instead of needing to stick to a time.” El agrees.

“It’ll make it a lot easier. I won’t need to sit out in the cold any more, as much as you’re worth it.”

“Mike…” El sighs. Rolling her eyes at his cliché words. “I am _not_ worth you getting ill or hurting yourself.”

“Of course you are, El.” Mike opposes. “I told you. You’re the most important thing in the world to me.”

She sighs again,  dreamily. She wishes she could kiss him right now. This would be a moment that they start kissing repeatedly, never wanting to stop, annoying Hopper to the point that he nearly develops telekinetic abilities of his own and smashes out every window in a ten-mile radius.

“You’re the most important thing in the world to me too, Mike.” she instead chooses to reciprocate.  
“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, El.” he responds, feeling his stomach swan dive into a pool of butterflies.  
“So, so much. I can’t wait to see you this weekend.”

“Th- This weekend? Your mom’s letting you?”

“Yes! She’s being really helpful, actually.” Mike tells her.  
“I think she knows, how hard it is for us.”

“I hope so. If she lets us see each-other every weekend, the distance won’t be _too_ hard.” El supposes.

“Definitely. Still nothing compared to seeing you every day, but a lot better than once a month or something.”

“That would be the _worst._ ” El states, dreading even the thought of such long gaps.

“I think I would die.” Mike agrees.

“Dying isn’t allowed.” El orders. “We can survive anything, Mike.”

M ike laughs, feeling his love for El trying to burst his body as it’s unable to be contained.

“Yes we can, El.”

Mike looks to the clock, and sighs sorrowfully once he sees the time blinking back at him.  
“I’ve got to go El, but I’ll call you later, okay?”

El, as much as she wishes she could talk to Mike all day, knows that it’s impossible, and urges herself to just be happy that they can talk much easier now.  
“Okay Mike. I’ll talk to you later.”  
A smile forming on her face, she says her three favourite words.  
“I love you.”

Which of course makes her smile infectious as it transfers to his face as well.  
“I love you too El.”

Sighing happily, Mike slowly hands the phone back on its base, letting his mind run over what the future can hold for himself and El now.  
Having phone contact instead of relying on Dustin’s radio tower definitely makes things a lot easier. The idea of seeing her every weekend, while certainly nothing compared to being with her every day, will make things a lot easier than they first seemed.

A surge of relief flows through him. Maybe this whole long-distance thing won’t need to be so painful after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo-wee, that's more like it!  
> Get that angst out'a here and give me HAPPINESS.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't function. I can't human. I will never get over season 3 splitting El and Mike up _again_.


End file.
